Bumper, The White Rabbit | Page 3

dirty, and he was afraid the black specks floating in it might be the reflection of his eyes. Then the water cleared as the dirt settled at the bottom, and straight up from the depths there glowed two tiny pink spots. Bumper watched them in silence until his mother asked: "What do you see, dear?"
"Two pink stars!" he murmured.
Mother rabbit, like all fond mothers, smiled and leaned over to kiss the wet nose of her little one. Jimsy and Wheedles and all the other rabbits were anxious to see the two pink stars in the water, and they crowded around the basin to get a look. They held their breath in amazement, for wonder of wonders! instead of two, there were a dozen tiny pink stars! They twinkled and flashed, and when they bobbed their heads up the stars faded away or disappeared entirely.
Mother rabbit, who was very fond of her little ones, smiled proudly, and said:
"All my children have pink eyes!"
"But don't all rabbits have pink eyes?" asked Bumper, whose little brain was still bursting with questions.
"No, dear, they do not--only those rabbits that come from snowballs have pink eyes."
"Oh!" exclaimed one and all, and particularly Bumper, who had started all this probing into the family history.
Then the last question of the little girl popped up into his head, and without waiting to catch his breath, or to give his mother time to think up a suitable answer, he blurted it out.
"Where did I get these long, fluffy ears, mother? The little girl said they were long and fluffy."
Just to make sure he had not been deceived, he pulled them right down between his two front paws, and looked at them. They were, indeed, long, silky and fluffy, and as white as snow.
Mother rabbit shook her head slowly just as if she intended to scold, and then said in the softest, gentlest of voices:
"I'm afraid that little girl has been putting vain ideas into your head, dear. You must be careful, and not let compliments about your eyes and ears spoil you. If you do people won't like you."
Bumper promised not to be spoilt by listening to what little girls said, and then eagerly repeated his question.
"Why, that is simple enough," Mother rabbit answered, having had time to think. "When you were only a little snowball, we had to hang you up to dry, and that pulled your ears out."
That was an answer good enough for any rabbit, and Bumper should have been satisfied, but he had a very inquisitive mind.
"But why didn't I melt when I was hung up to dry?" he asked quickly. "Snowballs melt in the sun, don't they?"
"Yes," gravely, "so they do, dear, if you leave them in the sun too long. But it was mother's business to see that you didn't melt. It's like baking bread or cake. If you leave the dough in the oven too long it burns up, and then it isn't either bread or cake. It's very hard to know just when it's done, and it's harder"--sighing aloud--"for mothers to know just when a snowball is turning into a white rabbit, and when it's beginning to melt away into nothing. Now don't ask me any more questions to-night. It's bed time, and little rabbits with pink eyes should be fast asleep."
Which was true, but Bumper went to sleep dreaming of a million questions he would ask his mother in the morning.

STORY II
WHY BUMPER WAS LEFT AT HOME
Bumper woke up the next morning so hungry that he couldn't think of any of the million questions to ask until he'd finished eating his breakfast. Besides a cabbage, there were some carrots and beet tops the old woman had fished out of a grocer's backyard, and Bumper had to jump lively to get his share. Jimsy and Wheedles were already on their second carrot when he opened his eyes.
"You'll never catch up with me!" said Jimsy, greedily. "I'm one carrot ahead of you."
"And I'm one and a half," mumbled Wheedles, with his mouth full.
"I don't care. Sleep is better for you than so much eating. I had a longer nap, and such beautiful dreams! Oh, I do hope some of them will come true."
"Tell us about them," said Jimsy, forgetting to eat. "I never have dreams."
"Neither do I," complained Wheedles. "You must tell us about your dreams."
"As soon as I finish my breakfast I will," replied Bumper. "Yes, they were beautiful dreams! I thought I was in a big place filled with crisp lettuce and golden carrots, and a girl with red hair picked me up in her arms and carried me away."
Bumper stopped talking while his brothers looked in amazement at him. They had heard the day before his story of the red-haired girl who wanted to buy him, and they were